Elastic-fluid turbine.



L. CJL OEW ENST EZ N." ELASTIC jFLU'lD. TURBINE. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 4, 1915.

1,242,005. Patented 0652,1917.

o F G Safet g Valve ReducingVawe I5 Witnesses: Inventor:

b Louis C. Loewenstein. Q JlttL STEIN, a citizen of the United States, residsiren STATES LOUIS o. nonwnns'rnin or LYnn, MASSACHUSETTS; A-ss'IGNonzro-GENERALQ LEGTRIC COMPANY, A oonronarion'or -N:EW:YORK

ELASTIC-FLUID 'ruiniiivr...

To all tbhomt't may concern: v Be it known that I, Louis C; Lonwnxiing-atLyn'n', in the county of Essex, in the State-of .Mas'sachusetts, have'inventedcer 'tain new and useful Improvements in Elasf tic-Fluid Turbines, is, a, specification.

of which the following The present invention relates to steam turbines and particularly to the operating v The primary object of the invention is to v provide an arrangement for controlling or governing a ,steam.-turbine which is ex- 15.

- tion on the part ofthe attendant, and which will effectually obviate any possibility of tremely;simple,require s little care or attenthe turbine-running away. 1. a

A further object to provide a turbin'e hav-ing'two distinct nozzlesor sets of nozzles,

through either of which the turbine may be operated so that in case one nozzle or settivetheother can-be used.

of nozzlesshould become clogged or inopera- 1,242,005. fi a nbfteaersmena F1 Pat-sated Oct.2, i9 1"7.

' a lication filed March 4,1915 Serial No.12,o5s.

to slugs of water or dirt ortrouble with the mechanism itself, the reducing valve would stlck'open or fail to function properlyyand n order to safeguard the turbine'in such a I case provide in thesteam line between the f reducing valve and the tui bine a pop-safety valve of suitable structure. It will be. ad- -plsted so as to keep the pressure below a certain predetermined maximum above that called for by the reducing valve It might furthermore-happen that, in the event of the reducing valve sticking open, that the safety valve would not lift quickly enough or sufiicientlyenough to relieve the pressure in the elastic fluid line leading-to the turbine,'and thus the turbine might be caused to race. 'This is particularly true when the motive fluid supply is from a source of very high pressure. Tojprovide against this possibility','and more particumay to allow the use of a smaller popsafety valve than ordii'iai-ily' necessary, I

place in the pipe 'linefla" member. having a comparativelysmall orifice so as to restrict In carrying out myinvention I provide he r O he ipe line at this point and a steam turbine comprising-a suitable casing havinga; rotor therein and provided with tWoinde'pendent nozzles .or sets of nozzles The pipe line or conduit which conveys motive fluid to the turbine is provided with a branch leading to each nozzle or set of noz- Qzles, and a suitable valve arrangement is provided whereby motive fluid may be directed to either branch. f

I For regulating the turbine I dispense with the usual (and more troublesome and expensive) speed governor and emergency shutoff means commonly considered necessary,

gand control the turbine primarily by means of a reducing valve located in gthe'pipe or conduitwhich conveys the elasticfiuid to the turbine nozzle or nozzles. 1 The turbine nozzle 01' nozzles are designed with a properly determinednrea so'that with a certain steam pressure supplied. the turbine will run at the desired speed. The reducing valve willbeset to reduce the existing steam pressure exactly or am'vroxhnately to a desired value. and willbe fixed and left in this position. The turbine will then be started and stopped by means of a suitable shut-off valve. In connection with the use of a reducing valve 1t may happen that due to prevent in any event large flowof fluid from the source to the turbine; This-memher-will preferably be located between: the source of elastic fluid "and the reducing valve, and may with advantage be located adj acentto and structurally combined with a steam strainer orwith a steam separator, (if any be used), as'will-be more fully explained hereinafter. The strainer will preferably be located in advance of the member as regards the direction of flow so as-to My invention is primarily intendedfor use where the turbine unit small, the load 105 on it issul'istantially constant' and the eff combined strainer and orifice member '16" ing valve attendant pare with simplicity an set.

rectedto the accom a'nyingld p nand the claims appende thereto.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1., illustrates diagrammatically a steam loco-I motive having a turbine driven electric headlight setwith any improvements applied thereto; Fig. 2 is a detailed viewof the turbine driven generator showing more clearly my improvements, and .Fig. 3jjis a detail sectional view on line 3-3, 'F ig. 2.

Referring to the dra rings, 4 indicates a steam locomotive and 5.the steamdome. 6 is a small turbo-generator set for supplying .elec'tricityto the headlights 7 and such other lights as may be desired. 8 indicates the.

turbine casing which houses a suitable turbinelr otor, and-9 the exhaust conduit. Th turbiae' is provided with two independent nozzles or sets of nozzles to which are 'con-- nected the pipes '10 and 11 respectively. These pipes are connected into a three-way valve couplinglQ with which also. connects the pipe or conduit 13 which conveys steam from the. steam dome 5; By turning the valve the steam from pi e l3gmay be d1- rected .into either of the pipes 10 or 11.

Arranged in the pipe .13 are the popsafety valve 14, the reduclng valve 15, the

(shown in section in Fig. 3), and theengis neers controlling valve '17. The safety valve 14: and reducing valve 15 may be of any suitable construction,and are illustrated only in a general way, Between the reduc ing valve and the turbine a suitable pressure gage may be provided as indicated at 18.

ReferringtoFig. 3, the pipe 13 isshown as being divided and joined by a usual form of coupling comprising a pair of flanged members 19 and 19 threaded to the respective pipe ends and suitably joined as by the member 20. The flanged member 19'is counterbored to provide an annular shoulder 21 against which abuts the cup-shaped member 22. This member is provided with'a small centrally locatedorifice 23 and with a flange 24 which fits between the fiangesof the members 19 and 19". Attached to the flange 24:, as by nieans'of the washer E25 and rivets 26,

is the strainer 27 formed of suitable material A as wire gauze. v In operation, the safety valve and reduchaving been properly adpisted, the has merely to open and'close his valve 17 to start and stop the turbine. No

. fi c e. 'use ,to which. my invention is particularly applicable is in connection with a steam locomotive for driving a fan or blower for inducing forced" draft in the stack-or for driving the"small generator of a headlight= For a consideration of what- I believe to. be novel and my invention attention is (ii- Y The-valvel2jwillbe set 'tive fluidto one,'-or'the other. of the pipes 10',

This'feature-is Lof great importance m an apparatus of this character, when, for instance, it is applied to a'locomotive as it re lieves the engineer of allresponsibility or 'carein connection therewith; iHe has no adjustments; to mke' and .n'o' regulating mechanismlwith-moving parts to watch. It. jjdoes not, therefore, ,in a

v y .way detract ,him f m h s liegtllair duties.:

to direct the 1110-.

11, for example pipe 10; Should the-nozzle.

co'me'clo'gged while the locomotive is onthe road, the engineer or attendant has simply to' turn the valve 12 to. shut :ofi: pipe 10' and direct the motive fluid to pipe 11.- This can be done in an instant and avoid the delay which would benecessary to clean outthe clogged nozzle 'as'would otherwise-be the case.

' By' the above arrangement a very simple governing arrangement is provided which is practically proof against accident orqde" rangement. Should the reducing valve be improperly set, or' 'fail to function properly for any reason, thepop-safety valve will readily relieve all the steam which can pass through the orifice. in thepipe 'line, or' even should the safety valve.sticktheamount of steam which could pass through the orifice would not be sufficient to raise the pressure to a. point where the apparatus would be injured. i

. 'By way of illustration, if the normal pres- I sure of steamto' be supplied to the'turbine is keeping the pres'sure of the'turbine to substantially its normalvalue of 110 lbs. gage.

Should, however, the pOp Safety .valve for some reason'become Impaired or sluggish while the reducm'g valve is 'ino-perative'or stuck open,v the orifice will so limit the maxiinum flow of motive fluid to the turbine that the pressure on the turbine cannot exceed a safe value. \Vithout this orifice the turbine would be subjected'to nearly the full pressure of the source. On a turbine apparatus constructed in ac cordanoe', with my invention theifollmving measurements were taken, the values given beingapproximate gage pressures. Ii -each instance the pressure of the source for the turbine .was 165 lbs. and the normal operating pressure for the turbine 1 10 lbs. The orifice had'an area. slightly larger than that of'the steam nozzle' e turbine.

1Q With the reducing alve set at 110 'lbs.

3 further attention" on. his .part is necessary. I

antenna with aniorifice having an'area slightly larger thanthe steam nozzle of the turbine,

thepressure after, the orifice in the directron-of steam flow was 150 lbs. the pressure beyond the reducing' valve was 110lbsJ and the pressure atthe nozzle of the steam turbine was 109 lbs.

2. With thereducing valve blocked open so as to be inoperative, the arrangement being OtlN'fWlSG the same as before, the steam' pressure beyond the orifice was 115 lbs;

the steam pressure beyond the pop-safetyvalve which was operating was 111'lbs.; and the pressure at the turbine nozzle was 109 lbs. 7 3. With the reducing valve blocked open and the pop-safety valve so set as to be inoperative, other conditions again being the same as before, the pressure beyond theorifice was 128 lbs. and. the pressure at the nozzle 115 lbs.

a. Without the orifice, and with the reducing valve blocked open and the popsafety valve so set asto be inoperative, other conditions being the same as heretofore, the pressure at the steam turbine nozzle was 153 lbs.

As already stated, I prefer to arrange the strainer inadvance of the orifice, and the orifice in 'advance'of the reducing valve as regards the direction of flow, but it will be understood that other arrangements may be used. For example, the orifice might be located between the reducing valve and popsafety valve, or even between the pop-safety valve and the turbine, although this last arrangement is not as effective as the others. Furthermore, the strainer and orifice may be separately formed and inserted. It will also be understood that within the scope of my invention certain of the regulating elements may be used without others, although the arrangement that I have illustrated is the one which I now prefer, and the one which I believe to be the most efiicient. For example, I may use only the reducing valve for regulating, or I may use the reducing valve in connection with only the pop-safety valve, or I may use other combinations, such as fall within the scope of the appended claims.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes,.I have described the prin-- lVhat I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent '01: the United States, is

1. A locomotive having a boiler which delivers steam at varying pressure and an electrio lamp, in combination with a turbine and generator driven thereby, the turbine receivingits steam from the boiler'and the generator supplying current to the lamp, said turbine having an invariable steam admission and. said generator having a sub s'tantially constant load, a steam conduit connecting the boiler and the,turbine, and

pressure below the minimum of that gen-- erated by the boiler.

2. The combination of a source of elastic fluid supply, an elastic fluid turbine, aconduit connecting the supply to the turbine, and means in said conduit for controlling and regulating the turbine, said ,means'comprising a reducing valve which is setto reduce the pressure of the supply to the value desired for operating the turbine, a popsafety valve located between the reducing valve and the turbine adjusted to keep the pressure below a certain ma rinnnn above that called for by the reducing valve, a member having an orifice therein which defines a passage of restricted area through the conduit, and a valve which is adapted to be opened and closed to start and stop the turbine.

3. The combination of a source of elastic fluid supply, anelastic fluid turbine, a con duit connecting the supply to the turbine, and means in said conduit for'controlling and regulating the turbine, said means combine receiving its steam from the boiler and the generator supplying current to the lamp, said turbine having an invariablesteam admission and said generator having a sub stantially constant load, a steam conduit connecting the boiler and the turbine, a pressure reducing valve that regulates the flow of steam from the boiler through the turbine which is set to deliver steam at a pressure below the minimum of that generated bythe .boiler, and a pop-safety valve arranged between the reducing valve and the turbine.

5. The combination with a turbine and a conduit for conveying motive fluid thereto, of regulating means for'the. turbine comprising a reducing valve in said conduit for limiting the flow of motive fluid to the tu rbine, and a pop-safety'valve, and a means defining. a passage of "restricted aregi in saidconduit for conveying motive fluid thereto;

of regulating means for the turbine arranged 111 sald condult and compnsmg a reducing valve, hpop-safety valve located betw een' the reducing valve and; theturbine,

and a 'member having'a smellbfifice loc'ated 10 between the reducing valve and the source of fl id s pp' yr In witness W'her'ebi I, have hereunto set my hand 'this 2d day 'f; -March, 1915.

LOUIS- C. LOEWENSTEIN. Witnesses: Q

ALEX. F.- MACDONAL SIMON F'misHER. 

